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Britain and its allies have agreed to arm the new Libyan government against the Islamic State, as the terror group’s grip inches ever closer to Europe.

The five permanent UN Security Council members said they were ready to equip the country’s unity government and would push for a loosening of an arms embargo, at a meeting of foreign ministers in Vienna.

John Kerry, US Secretary of State and co-chair of the summit, said it “made sense” to supply the new internationally backed government with weapons, but it would need to be “carefully sculpted.”

Islamic State has taken advantage of the chaos left by the toppling and death of longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, which left a power vacuum that allowed rival militias to establish virtual fiefdoms across the oil-rich country.

Jihadists have since been able to establish a foothold in Gaddafi's coastal hometown of Sirte, giving them a potential base in a country separated from Europe only by a relatively small stretch of the Mediterranean Sea.

The group now boasts an estimated 5,000 fighters in the North African country and could gain hundreds more after being offered support from Isil-aligned Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Last month, the Libyan government gave a stark warning that Isil could seize most of the country if it was not halted soon.

The UN-brokered Government of National Accord headed by Fayez al-Serraj, a trained architect and political novice from a prominent Tripoli family, has won international support since it was formed in March but is still at odds with a competing administration in the east which rejects its legitimacy.

In a bid to stabilise the country in the face of divisions, Mr Serraj on Monday gave the go-ahead for 18 government ministers to start work.

Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary, said: "I welcome prime minister Serraj and the presidency council's commitment to tackle the important issues for the people of Libya and deliver the peace and stability they deserve.”

Britain, the US and Libya’s former colonial ruler Italy, had been mulling military intervention, but yesterday Mr Kerry ruled out foreign boots on the ground, saying they aimed to develop the government’s ability to deal with the threat itself.

Mr Serraj had said he would welcome greater military aid and training, but it was ultimately the job of a strengthened Libyan army to rout out the jihadists.

“When it comes to defeating ISIS, I remind our friends that this will be achieved by Libyan efforts and without foreign military intervention,” he said. “Terrorists will be defeated by our armed forces uniting under civilian command.”

IHS Janes, a defence consultancy, cautioned, however, that the new government is not yet in a position to co-ordinate an effective military response to Islamic State and would require much greater international support.

Richard Cochrane, a senior analyst at Janes, also suggested the relaxing of an arms embargo would probably only serve to “inject renewed energy into Libya's civil war” rather than galvanise its combatants into unified action against Isil.